The recently agreed and comprehensive changes to the Champions League from the 2024/25 season and the plans for a so-called Super League – in recent days there has been a heated debate in European football. While the European elite league is on the verge of collapse, the reform of the Champions League has been agreed by UEFA.
On Thursday evening, Fernando Carro, chairman of the board at Bayer 04, talks at length about these issues. The 56-year-old can also call on his experience as a member of the UEFA Club Competitions Committee. Carro is being interviewed on RTL Nitro from 20.15 CEST. The free TV channel is broadcasting the Europa League semi-final between Manchester United and AS Roma (kick-off: 21.00 CEST) and the interview with the Bayer 04 CEO will be shown in the build-up to the game.
Head coach Hannes Wolf is also a representative of the Black and Reds on TV on Friday night, 30 April. The 40-year-old is a guest of host Alexander Bommes on the Sportschau Club on ARD. The live broadcast begins immediately following the DFB Cup semi-final between Werder Bremen and RB Leipzig (kick-off: 20.30 CEST).
Things could hardly be any better for midfield dynamo Exequiel Palacios at the moment. Since Bayer 04 head coach Hannes Wolf took over the helm ahead of matchday 27, the Argentinian has been an established part of the Black and Red midfield. The 22-year-old has been in the starting eleven in the last five games and he went the full distance in four of those matches.
Why 'Pala' feels such great confidence from the head coach was explained recently in an interview with selected members of the press: "Hannes and I had a very good conversation. He said I should show why I am an established member of the Argentina team. Fortunately that worked out."
After his lumbar vertebral fracture, which he suffered in the middle of November with Argentina in a World Cup qualifier, Palacios has recently grown into the role of enforcer in front of the defence. "The tactical system suits me. The job of closing down space is something I like. I feel very happy with it," said our number 25.
Like Palacios, Kerem Demirbay has also played in every game to date under Hannes Wolf. The 27 year-old was a starter in three of the five games. Recently he scored the crucial goal to make it 3-1 in the home game against Eintracht Frankfurt. His deflected shot from 25 yards out was probably the most unlikely goal on Bundesliga matchday 31 – with a goal probability of just three per cent.
Dimitar Berbatov originally wanted to take up a new post in his home country in June. The plan of the former Werkself player (2001 to 2006): To win the new election for the president of the Bulgarian Football Association. However, 'Berbo's' candidacy has received a setback.
Borislav Mihajlov, who resigned two years ago due to racist incidents, recently announced his return to his post. He also declared that elections will be held in 2022. So Berbatov will probably have to be patient for a few months before he can launch his election campaign...
Domagoj Vida celebrated his 32nd birthday on Thursday in Bulgaria's neighbouring country. The central defender played for the Werkself in 2010/11 and today he plays for Besiktas in the Turkish capital – and as a regular first choice with the club he is on the way to winning the league title. Bayer 04 wish him continuing success in the league and many happy returns.
In the previous game against RB Leipzig in December last year, the Werkself turned came from behind to win 3-1 and further improved Leverkusen's already strong record against the Red Bulls. Montrell Culbreath stood out with his first goal on his debut for the Black and Reds. While the 18-year-old would certainly like to score a second goal against Leipzig on Saturday night, the attack-minded visitors come to the BayArena in confident mood after five Bundesliga victories in a row. The Nordkurve12 supporters group knows the Werkself will therefore once again be reliant on the vociferous support of the fans, and has once again called for the ‘Finally Red’ campaign in the run-in. Today’s matchday news.
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Video games manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA), together with the German Football League (DFL), announced the top male and female selections for the 2025/26 Bundesliga season this week. Bayer 04 striker Vanessa Fudalla is in the starting eleven of the women's "Team of the Season". Alejandro Grimaldo and Aleix Garcia have been selected as bench players in the men's team.
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This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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